'Burned at the stake': Coach breaks silence on fallout from sharing post critical of trans athletes

By Lillian Tweten
Daily Caller News Foundation

Kim Russell, the head women’s lacrosse team coach at Oberlin College in Ohio, spoke out against the college for retaliating against her after she shared a social media post critical of male athletes participating in women’s sports, according to a video released by Independent Women’s Forum on Tuesday.

Russell shared a social media post on her personal Instagram account in support of Emma Weyant, who had placed second behind former transgender athlete Lia Thomas during the 500-yard freestyle at the 2022 NCAA women’s swimming championship, after the competition took place, she said in a video interview with Independent Women’s Forum. A student athlete forwarded the post to the college’s athletic director, who brought Russell in for several meetings with administrators and students where she was chastised for her views.

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“I felt like I was burned at the stake. I felt like I was stoned and hanged all at the same time,” Russell said in the video, recalling a meeting held with the team. “It was what I would call the mob mentality . . . That meeting turned into anybody being able to say anything they didn’t like about my coaching style or my assistant’s coaching, anything.”

Oberlin College demanded that Russell write an apology letter for her social media post, Russell said in the video.

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“Every time I’ve spoken up, I’ve been silenced,” Russell said in the video. “I’m 56 years old and I feel like I’m walking on eggshells and afraid to be me where I work.”

Russell still works at Oberlin College, but is unsure of how long she will continue to have a job at the college, accordingto USA Today. She admitted that going public with her story might result in negative repercussions, but wanted to speak out so that other women would feel empowered to stand up for themselves, she told the outlet.

“Right now I feel like women are afraid to speak up for women because they’re afraid to be canceled and afraid to be looked at as a part of a hate group when this is not about hate,” Russell told USA Today.

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A 2023 survey found that nearly 70% of Americans do not support transgender athletes competing in categories outside of their biological gender, according to NBC News.

Russell, Oberlin College and Oberlin’s Athletics Department did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

This story originally was published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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